Freeland man arrested for threatening official

A 57-year-old Freeland man angry over code enforcement citations was arrested for allegedly threatening a borough official Wednesday.

Wayne Harding was charged by borough police with terroristic threats and two counts of disorderly conduct. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Gerald Feissner and taken to the Luzerne County prison on $5,000 bail, according to a court docket.

Arrest papers state Luzerne County 911 dispatched police to the borough building, 801 Centre St., for a man making threats at 4:35 p.m.

Freeland council President Robert Quinn said Harding came to the code enforcement office and was angry over a citation issued to him by Code Enforcement Officer Brian Maso, arrest papers state. Quinn tried explaining to Harding he was not the officer but Harding yelled obscenities at him, stating, "I'm going to see the code enforcement officer in his grave," according to court papers.

Quinn asked Harding to leave and Harding complied, but then stood outside the borough building yelling obscenities at Quinn until officers arrived. Police said they took Harding into custody and while walking him to the police station, Harding again yelled at Quinn, "I'm going to see the code enforcement officer in his grave."

Harding told police he was angry because code enforcement had sent him several violation notices for blight and recently cited him for parking an uninspected trailer on private property, arrest papers state.

- Amanda Christman

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